Michigan State Football Positional Preview: Safeties

James Adams is one of the handful of assistants who were retained by Pat Fitzgerald this offseason. He joined the staff for the 2025 season after previously serving in the same role at Wake Forest from 2022-24.

Starters

Free Safety: Nikai Martinez

Back for another season is Nikai Martinez. Last year was supposed to be Martinez's last in college as a true senior, but injuries limited him to just four games. That allowed him to redshirt, and Pat Fitzgerald was able to hold on to Martinez during the winter.

Martinez was one of MSU's most reliable defenders during the 2024 season. He played 724 snaps that season, the most of any defender on the Spartans. Martinez finished his first year with Michigan State with 51 total tackles and a pair of interceptions. The year before that at UCF, Martinez had 54 tackles and three picks.

MSU's secondary is much better when Martinez is available. The Spartans' pass defense finished 46th in the FBS back in 2024. Michigan State also allowed an average of just 189.8 passing yards per game during the four contests Martinez played in last season.

Getting an additional season out of Martinez is a win. He'll probably be one of MSU's three top tacklers this season (if he remains healthy) and just one of the team's best players overall.

Strong Safety: Devin Vaught

One of Michigan State's additions to the safety room from the transfer portal is Devin Vaught. He was previously a standout at Maine. Vaught has intercepted three passes in each of the last two seasons, earning Second Team All-CAA honors last fall. One of his picks last year came against FBS foe Georgia Southern, and it ended up becoming a 76-yard pick-six.

Vaught should also bring another layer of physicality to the Spartans' defense. He finished second on the Black Bears with 60 total tackles last season, and he finished with an impressive 82.9 run-defense grade from Pro Football Focus. He's coming to MSU as a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility remaining.

Nickelback: Michael Richard

Another incoming transfer is Michael Richard. He's coming over from Louisiana Tech, where he's spent each of the first three years of his career thus far. Richard is a true senior, but the NCAA's new 5-in-5 rules mean that he will be eligible for the 2027 season as well.

Richard is coming off a nice season at LA Tech. He made 39 total tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, and intercepted the first three passes of his career. His first pick came during Louisiana Tech's Week 2 game at LSU. Richard should generally be closer to the line of scrimmage as the team's nickelback, but he's primarily worked with the safeties.

Key Reserves

Aveon Grose

The main backup at strong safety is probably redshirt senior Aveon Grose. He appeared in all 12 games last season for Michigan State, playing 156 defensive snaps and a team-high 219 special teams snaps. Grose made his first career start in the season finale, making a game-sealing interception.

Grose will likely have another significant role on MSU's special teams units, but there should be some defensive snaps here and there for him on defense.

Deuce Edwards

One young player who seems ready to step into a role is Deuce Edwards. He didn't appear in a game during his true freshman season with the program in 2025. Edwards was a Scout Team Player of the Week twice (Boston College and UCLA).

As a recruit, Edwards finished ranked 750th overall in the class of 2025, according to the 247Sports Composite. He picked Michigan State over other offers from West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Colorado, Florida State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Indiana, Tennessee, Ole Miss, SMU, and some other Power Four schools.

Khalil Majeed

The most-tenured player on the entire roster is Khalil Majeed. He came to MSU as a freshman in 2021, and he hasn't left. Majeed has played in 26 games across his time in East Lansing thus far. Last season was the first time in his college career that Majeed appeared in every game, playing 86 snaps on defense and 162 special teams snaps (fourth-most on the team).

Evan Young

Another key depth piece is Evan Young. He appeared in four games last year in his first with the program, playing 34 snaps on special teams. Young finished ranked 1,024th overall in the class of 2025 according to the 247Sports Composite, choosing the Spartans over other offers from UTSA, Wyoming, Louisiana, North Texas, and a few other Group of Five/Six programs.

Other Players at Safety: Eliyjah Caldwell, Caleb Gash, Brayden Thomas, Trevaughn Martinez, Jonathan Granby